Is Ivan Toney the perfect replacement for Ollie Watkins?

If you didn’t look at the back of the shirt, you’d have thought that Ollie Watkins was still at Brentford, banging in the goals. Instead, it was Ivan Toney who made all the headlines as Brentford comfortably strolled past Coventry 2-0 at the Brentford Community stadium.

Having sold Watkins to Aston Villa last month, there were always going to be questions as to how the Bees were going to replace him. After all he did score 27 goals last season.

Time and time again, Brentford have lost their star strikers and yet they still end up with another striker who goes on to score a similar number of goals.

This summer, it was Ivan Toney who was the chosen one to fill the boots, having signed for £10 million, from the back of an outstanding season with Peterborough where he scored 24 goals in just 32 games.

Toney has had an up and down career. Having played two games in the Premier League for Newcastle, much of his playing time has come in League One after spells with the likes of Barnsley, Shrewsbury Town, Scunthorpe and Wigan. At the age of 24, he seems to have found his feet.

One of the main features of his game is his runs in behind the defenders which he times so well from finding the right spaces to attack. His runs in between defenders from crosses are also exceptional as seen in both goals yesterday. Toney also likes to play on the last shoulder and if given the chance he will more times than not get away from the defender with the pace he possesses.

It’s not just the quality of his runs that makes him stand out but also his aerial ability. For someone who stands at 5”10 he scores a lot of goals with his head which makes him a threat from open play and set pieces. With Brentford’s style of play, where wide players are always looking to get the ball into the box at the first given opportunity, it looks to be a match made in heaven.  He scored six with his head last season and got his first of the season against the Sky Blues.

Toney is not just limited to the penalty box. He often comes deeper to create a play for his teammates, which was seen regularly in the win against Coventry where he drifted to the left.

Manager Thomas Frank was impressed with what he had seen from the striker.

“Ivan (Toney) is about much more than goals. His link-up play and persistence are excellent and he will improve massively throughout this season.

“He scored two top goals and was frustrated about coming off, but it was an impact injury and I was thinking of taking him off anyway”.

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